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Original poster

Does everyone on maternity leave dream of working from home...?

11 replies

Monkeybird · 27/02/2008 10:17

Everytime I've been on mat leave (3 times now), I seem to spend considerable amounts of time thinking about what work I could do from home that would allow me more time with the kids... Lots of pipe dreams but suspect i'm just deluding myself that I would have any more time or even touch the salary I earn... Some of it is wrapped up in the fantasy of working for myself too but sure that's probably even less time than working for an employer?

Please put me out of misery and remind me i'm lucky to have a job to go back to?

Or tell me what fantastic well-paid things you do from home that I could do too?!

OP posts:

micegg · 27/02/2008 10:28

I do this too. Last time I was on maternity leave I had a go at working from home by running my own community based magazine. To be honest it was an absolute nightmare. I made no money and spent alot of precious time on the phone trying to persuade moody Londoners to advertise as well as countless nights trying to bring the whole thing together. Never again. Now that DD is 2 and I have another on the way I wouldnt contemplate it without childcare which for me means I may as well just go back to work. I am lucky that I work P/T. I found working from home very lonely and the house went to pot (more than usual) not to mention the way in which it affected my relationship with DH as I was working evenings. Overall working outside the home is a much better deal for me: Time away from kids, adult chat, not having to look at the ironing pile and a coffee in peace. My friend loves working from home but she has childcare for 2 full days a week and a cleaner so that must help.

If you have a skill you can use to earn money from home whilst earning enough to cover childcare then it must be great. Or better still work whilst the kids are at school. I was wondering of bookeeping might fit this but not sure.

TheDuchessOfNorksBride · 27/02/2008 10:29

I am well paid from home (MD of IT company) but the work fits in around looking after 3 DCs (2 at primary, 1 at pre-sch) and because many of our clients are in the US, I often work through the night, or at least until the early hours. Currently pregnant with no. 4, I have a working hours cut-off of 1am. I enjoy doing it and can survive on so little sleep but it's not for everyone.

Being able to leave your office at 5pm and not think about it again until the morning must have it's advantages! You also get mat leave.

MrsMattie · 27/02/2008 10:31

I left my full time job to go freelance/self employed because I couldn't bear the lack of freedom involved in a job with fixed hours, a commute, being tied to one office/employer/set of rules, having a boss (grrrr, yuk!).
It is bloody hard, to be honest, but I do have more flexible hours and more time with my son and I don't regret it one bit.

morningpaper · 27/02/2008 10:31

How would you work from home with children there? do you have long uninterupted hours to yourself?

RedJools · 27/02/2008 10:34

I could never get anything done from home with my 3!! Although I do love the idea of managing my own time, its actually quite nice to get out of the house and into a different environment for a while! One where I can actually go to the loo myself! Although I still harbour dreams of writing to supplement my salary.....

K999 · 27/02/2008 10:36

I am about to finish 1 year of ML and tbh for the last few months I have dreamed of going back to work......for the break! Or at least to have a pee on my own...

witchandchips · 27/02/2008 10:42

best thing is what i did towards the end of my maternity leave. I worked from home but had childcare. Ds' nursery was just round the corner and because i had no travel time i could work for 8ish hours AND do all the washing, cooking etc during working hours. I would simply put a load of washing on or put a dish in the oven while i was making myself a cup of coffee. I then could just play and be with ds in the evenings.

sophiewd · 27/02/2008 10:49

We are lucky enough to live in a house which allows us to do B&B, having said that DD is in nursery 3 mornings a week going up to 5 in June, this lets us do everything we need to do while she isn't here and have fun with her in afternoon. It is hard work, and no maternity leave (pg with No2 and have eaxactly 9 days of this time before we have to take guests again) but that is our choice.

hattyyellow · 27/02/2008 10:57

Working from home can get very lonely (thank heavens for mumsnet!)

And it's really hard to switch off the fact that the dishwasher needs to be stacked/washing done/that when you just popped to the loo you noticed the sink was covered with toothpaste and it would just takeaminutetojustdosomehousework...

And without the commute it's hard to switch off at the end of the day..I go out for meetings about once a week and I really enjoy the outside contact...but I do feel isolated from my colleagues, it takes ages to catch up and I don't always have time so you miss out on those social networks..I only have 1.5 days per week to build "mum" friendships on my days with DD's and 1 day a week in office to build "work" friendships so both tend to slip a bit...

Although there are obviosuly lots of positives, you did say you wanted the negatives!

And eek, before you know it it's nearly 11 and you are nowhere near finishing your contracted piece of work for the morning...

bettythebuilder · 27/02/2008 11:12

I work from home, I've been building up my own business for the last couple of years, but it's not well paid, I'm afraid! In fact, it's not paid at all at the mo.

I may have been better off going out to work, but I haven't had to pay for childcare, and I have the satisfaction of working for myself; developing a product, and building a small business up from scratch.

(agree with hatty about the distractions of housework, and of course MN )

Overall, though, I love being a Wahm, and feel lucky that I have the opportunity. Dh works random shifts, and I'd been out of the workplace for a while, so I'm really not sure what job opportunities would have been open for me...

hattyyellow · 27/02/2008 11:19

ps thought of another reason..freelance work can be unpredictable, you don't have the "security" of being an employee..

If a client doesn't like what you're doing, I find they are a lot more blunt! I think they don't worry about you getting as shirty as an employee would..it's much easier to get rid of you if they really need to! obviously if they are being really difficult/unpleasant you can terminate the contract etc but then you have...

worries about where your next piece of work is coming from, I've been lucky to be fully booked since I went freelance but I still worry like mad about not having a guaranteed income..

My DH is also freelance and Christmas was a hellofashock with neither of us earning for a good week! When you're not paid for holidays its very tempting not to take them

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